The Shamy Shenny Paradigm
by DeducingLoki
Summary: Sheldon and Amy are no longer together. Penny and Leonard have given up trying. When Sheldon flies out for a relative's wedding, both Sheldon and Penny realise just how much they really mean to each other. Rated T for language, alcoholism and sexual comments (GODDAMMIT HOWARD). Rating may go up with time. Set post-series 5- anything in series 6 onwards is discounted!
1. Chapter 1

**Wow guys! I'm totally impressed by how I got like 6 follows and favourites and 4 reviews in under an hour of posting my Shenny one-shot! So, I got myself motivated using chocolate orange and The Flaming Spittoon Acquisition and got busy! Here, I present you with "You owe me a favour". The title may change, but that's what it'll be for now!**

**This is another Shenny fic, and I'll probably continue to do them for the foreseaable future. There may be others, but here we go! **

**Quick summary- Sheldon finds his relationship with Amy is grinding to a halt, especially when news from a distraught Penny alters his emotions towards her. A strange romance ensues, but not without humour and a dash of angst!**

**Characters involved; Bernadette, Amy, Howard, Priya, Leslie Winkle (brief mentions only), Raj, Leonard, Sheldon, Penny and Stuart.**

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**Chapter 1- Up in flames**

_"So it's over. This time I know it's gone." ~ Coldplay_

**Sheldon POV**

Video-calling Amy had started off difficult but progressed to being easy to handle for me. She provided sensible, reasonable and entertaining conversations most of the time, unless she was craving human intimacy, a problem I feared I would need to extinguish in order to keep the paradigm of our relationship somewhat "romantic". However, recently I had found myself unwilling to call her, using every opportunity to escape from conversation. It was one particular night when my excuse was too rushed for my brilliant mind to calculate, and Amy began to question for the truth. I was boringly discussing the best adaptation of Batman on an official forum, when a ringing sound erupted from my computer, making me gasp in surprise. I clicked on the icon without thinking about the consequences, making me question my mind after I answered it. _Amy's ruining my mind._

"Hello Sheldon. How are you today?" She asked. I knew it was just a social convention and she was trying to fit in with society, but since we were alone I had no desire to keep up with such pretences.

"You and I both know that no one cares Amy. I am sorry to have given you hope, but I'm busy writing a paper on String Theory and Quantum Mechanics associated with it…" I said, my eyes barely twitching as I struggled to ignore the lie I was spinning.

"Really? The same paper you published two days ago? Sheldon, what are you actually doing? I don't care, but I don't appreciate being lied to. I read in a book that relationships require honesty." She droned on and on, and I feared she would never stop, so I accidentally spun a lie that was even less believable than the first.

"I'm watching…" I trailed off whilst I searched around the room subtly for an excuse.

"I'm watching Babylon 5."

"You don't like Babylon 5. You almost cussed last time it was on TV." She said, her eyebrows furrowing in a mixture of sadness, anger and confusion.

"I have to go Amy. I bid you farewell." I slammed the laptop screen down with more force than necessary. I grabbed the television remote and settled down in my spot, absorbing myself in some classic Star Trek. I was aggravated, as it was Vintage Game Night yet the trio of men who called themselves "friends of mine" were off trying to flirt with women. However, observing Spock once again made me relaxed, and the minor incident with Amy was soon put to the back of my mind, but I was cursed to remember it, because of my eidetic memory. My hearing made me aware of Wolowitz, Leonard and Raj plodding up the stairs. Judging by the time gap between each thump of the steps they took in sync, made me think they had no luck at the bar with women. A minute or so later, and Leonard clumsily threw open the door. He was quite intoxicated, which made me roll my eyes in disappointment. This reminded me of the time when I first went on a date with Amy, and I sighed and said "Muggles" to which she grunted in agreement. Not a heartbeat after Leonard stumbled through the door did Raj and Howard follow. Howard wasn't intoxicated, and although Raj had definitely drunk alcohol, he wasn't in a state like Leonard was.

"Hey-hey Shelly Bean!" Leonard yelled, raising an imaginary wine glass to propose a fake toast to me. I sighed and experimented yet again with another colloquial.

"Sup." The phrase left a bitter taste on my tongue, and I immediately regretted it. However, the phrase amused Leonard, for he started giggling uncontrollably. He threw his keys in the wooden bowl beside the door, but it missed completely and thumped to the floor uselessly.

"Score!" He exclaimed, fist pumping the air victoriously. He tripped over his own feet for the third time, before collapsing on the floor, groaning. Howard and Raj exchanged looks that I assumed were looks of concern, before picking up the intoxicated noob and dragging him off to the bathroom. With yet another sigh, I retired to my bedroom too for the night. Before I turned off the light to sleep, I noticed the papers that lay organised by my bedside, next to the latest Flash comic. On it the title read "Relationship Agreement concerning the altered relationship paradigm between Sheldon Lee Cooper and Amy Farrah Fowler". I picked up the sheets, considering the words. At the time of our relationship's beginning, the agreement was as close as it could be to perfect. I had spent many hours perfecting it, tweaking it just right. I admitted to myself on several occasions that I was proud that Amy was delighted over it, but for her to find it romantic was pushing the proverbial boundaries. A soft knocking on my bedroom door snapped me rather rudely from my thoughts. I looked at the clock, and was confused as the time read 11.30. I was late getting to bed, so I deliberated over ignoring it. However, a light sob that followed the knocking finally persuaded me, so I reluctantly opened the door to a sobbing Penny. Her hair was curled and loose, and her make-up ran down her face, reminding me rather strangely of the Joker.

"Penny, what are you doing here? You're not allowed to enter my bedroom unless in an emergency." Her emerald eyes were wide and tearful, and I very reluctantly opened the door to grant her access.

"I'm sorry Sheldon… I just need someone to talk to." She sniffed.

"Why choose me? There are plenty of other people who will help you at this time of hour. I was retiring for the night. Also, I doubt I can help you, but you ought to know that." I chided. Another tear trickled down her face, so I pulled open a drawer and handed her a handkerchief marked "Friday" in green.

"You have a hankie for each day of the week?" She asked through her tears.

"It's organised, something you'd know little about." I replied. Penny didn't respond, but took the hankie and blew her nose disgustingly loudly on it. My stomach churned at the thought of Penny's insides all over my belongings, but I tried extra hard to control myself and my twitching.

"I know you're little or no help, but I just need a sympathetic ear. Could you do that for me?" She asked quietly.

"This needs more consideration Penny! Again, you're proving your awful organisation! If you wish to change my personality, even if only for a brief period of time, I have to have a warning or request three hours in advance. It says so in the Roommate Agreement." I stated, pointing to an open drawer which inside held the Agreement itself. It wasn't until the last words were uttered that I realised what I'd implied.

"Sheldon- I don't live here. Why would I pay attention to the Roommate Agreement?" She pointed out.

"Well, I calculated the average number of nights spent here, and it adds up to over 60. This applies for a temporary Roommate Agreement." I insisted, continuing to point.

"Whatever Sheldon! Put it this way. Listen to me and offer me advice as a favour." She pleaded.

"What favour do I owe you?"

"I gave you Leonard Nimoy's DNA, and a signature including your name on it." _Drat, she has me, _I thought bitterly. I sat gingerly on the bed, and motioned for her to sit on the very end of it.

"Thank you." She whispered, scrunching up the hankie in her hand.

"Who has Leonard been seeing at the University?" She sniffed, looking at me in the eyes, searching for honesty. Conflicted, I debated telling her the truth. I remembered the debt and answered honestly. After all, even in my Roommate Agreement it was written that honesty must be held highly in a relationship.

"What do you term seeing?" I began, treading carefully on the eggshells the devil woman had planted.

"I mean, who has he been spending a lot of time with that he wouldn't usually?" She continued, co-operating with me to understand.

"Leslie Winkle." I answered without a moment's hesitation.

"That bitch." She muttered, dabbing at her eyes with the hankie again.

"Why do you ask?" I ventured.

"Because I heard Leonard on the phone earlier- he was doing gooey talk and saying about how he loved this girl. I asked who it was he was calling and he said an old friend from the University." Her voice wavered in sadness.

"I thought you terminated your relationship a week ago. In fact, I know you did. Eidetic memory." I reminded her, tapping my head wistfully.

"Yeah, but we agreed to give it another whirl. But he was still dating Winkle whilst dating me." She put her heads in her hands, her sobbing once again uncontrollable. I felt awkward watching her cry, so I patted her on the back.

"There, there."

"He's drunk now, throwing up all over your bathroom floor because Lesley dumped him, he got depressed and drunk and then admitted it to me, and then I dumped him." She muttered darkly. She stood up, her tears of sadness melting in to anger.

"You know what? He deserves to be alone. I deserve someone better than him." I sat in stunned silence as she ranted about Leonard. After ten minutes of her calling Leslie Winkle several rude names, she thanked me, hugged me and went to bed. I digested all I had learned, and found myself strangely angry. _Penny didn't deserve that- she would never do that to Leonard. _I thought, toiling over my emotions.

The next morning, I woke up at exactly 6.00am to get up, wash, dress and be in time for Doctor Who. When I entered the bathroom, it was impeccably clean. I knew from what Penny had said that it ought to have been a disgusting state, with alcohol and sick all over the floor and walls. However, the room was completely clean, and I found that it cheered me up immensely from my unexpected bout of anger towards Leonard I experienced the previous night. A note was written on the sink, and I picked it up eagerly and read it. "Because I owe you one. –Penny x" was written on it, in her tidiest handwriting. Content, I stored the note away, washed myself efficiently and dressed. I wore a new T-Shirt I had purchased at the Comic Store. It was black, save for Tony Stark's Arc Reactor printed on the chest of the shirt. I switched off the light, and began to prepare breakfast. I ate a low fibre cereal, with a ¼ cup of 2% milk, and settled down to watch Doctor Who. After Doctor Who ended, I folded my clothes and put them in the wash basket, preparing for 8.15pm, laundry night. Then, I prepared to visit Penny. It seemed she had some explaining to do.

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**So, what do you think? I hope Sheldon's less OOC this time, I noticed a few reviews on my last one-shot mentioned Sheldon being OOC. Hopefully this time it worked! Please review and let me know. If I can't get the characters right, I don't see the point in continuing. **


	2. Chapter 2

**So hello again people! I really wanted to do this from Penny's perspective, and I took into account about Penny perhaps being too poetic with her words (sorry guys!) so I altered it a bit. Hope she's less OOC this time.**

**Thanks for all your lovely reviews, it means a lot to me! I must admit I find writing for Sheldon easier and more fun, and tbh I wanted for it to be only from Sheldon's POV, but if I do that I fear the reader could lose emotions that are only seen in Sheldon from another's perspective, and are quite valuable to the story. The first example of this can be found in this chapter.**

**See you soon for the next installment! Oh and any reviewers from my Haunt Me Loki story- new surprise chapter uploaded now!**

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**Chapter 2~ Hurt Before**

_You see she's Turning the key, unlocking the door_  
_Embracing the roller coaster world _  
_Take it in stride, you're just twenty-five _  
_And you know we've all been hurt before ~ The Corrs_

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**Penny POV**

I left Sheldon's apartment at 5:45, and I was quite proud of myself. Leonard had made a total mess of the bathroom; his guts and puke decorated the walls and floor, making me cringe. The smell was disgusting, so I straight away cracked open a window and let some sweet air in. I grabbed some cleaning stuff I knew Sheldon kept under the sink which he constantly reminded the group about, and got to work scrubbing. When I was nearly finished scrubbing, I heard painful groans coming from Leonard's room. I smiled vindictively. _Somebody's woken up. _I heard footsteps pad heavily into the bathroom, and I turned around from my crouching position to see Leonard, dishevelled hair and askew glasses, standing awkwardly in the doorway. I turned around again, deliberately ignoring him.

"Penny- I'm so sorry… are you cleaning the bathroom?" He asked, confused.

"Yeah- I'm cleaning up the crap you caused with your drunken behaviour last night!" I snapped, throwing a sponge back into its bucket angrily. _There's my relatively good mood (considering the circumstances) out the friggin' window._

"Oh. I'm so sorry Penny; will you please let me explain?"

"What is there to explain? You cheated on me!" I cried, before hushing myself when I realised I'd wake Sheldon up. No one wanted to wake him up so early- it was like opening Pandora's Box.

"Technically, I cheated on Leslie…" He trailed off when I released my death glare on him. It took all my strength to not slap him right there.

"Go back to bed or something; I don't want to deal with you right now. How the hell did you even get up so early? You were so pissed last night; you should have a massive hangover right now!" I stuck my hands out angrily, gesturing for him to leave. Stubborn as Leonard could be, he knew not to argue with me when I was annoyed. He left silently, save for the click of his bedroom door shutting and locking. Huffing, I finished up my work, washed my hands and stowed away the cleaning equipment Sheldon had taken the time to label and organise alphabetically. I chuckled lightly at Sheldon's obvious OCD- it was in some ways childish, but it definitely worked. I stopped to look in the mirror, and despite my puffy red eyes and knotted, tear-dampened hair, I found myself smiling quite fondly at Sheldon's silly habits. I checked my watch, admired my handiwork and left without a sound. I shut the door, locked it and settled down in my own apartment. Now that I'd thanked Sheldon in my own way, I could finally address what I needed to- my emotions. I climbed into my bed, aware I had no work for the weekend, and shut my eyes, allowing my emotions to envelop me. Tears welled in my eyes, and I began to sob into my pillow. My mind flashed back to the moments leading up to the discovery.

We were sat watching Sex and the City for a while, when Leonard got a phone call. He excused himself and went into my bedroom to answer it.

"Hey… I need to talk to you. It's about our… situation. I don't think I can-" The phone call seemed to abruptly end, and my eyebrows raised in surprise. Whoever it was that Leonard was talking to seemed to be upset with him.

"Who was that sweetie?" I asked, my eyes wide with concern.

"Just an old colleague from work. Not important. She wanted to discuss a project coming up." I couldn't stop myself from bristling when I realised that it was a girl talking to him.

"Oh. Is it really about the project?" I said sourly. My eyes widened when I realised I was overreacting. Leonard looked like a guppy fish; bewildered and lost. I felt sorry for him immediately.

"I'm sorry, I'm just under a lot of stress from work, and one of my friends suffered a break-up not long ago, and now I'm all paranoid." I explained with a heavy sigh. He nodded in understanding, before shiftily dodging the question.

"Who exactly was it that called Leonard?"

"Why do you have to know every single little thing about it?!" He exclaimed angrily. I was taken aback as I watched him stand and stalk out of the room.

"I just wanted to know if it was someone I knew that's all! Geez, I thought I was overreacting!" I shouted as I pursued him out of the apartment. I didn't pay any attention to Sheldon who sat unmoving in his spot. I found him sat on his bed, a look of anxiety painting it.

"Sweetie, what's wrong? You're all worked up." I said in an effort to calm us both down.

"The girl that called- I'm still technically in a relationship with her, because I thought I'd never have a chance with you again." He looked down in shame. My jaw dropped as his words sunk in.

"You what? You dirty, stinking rat bastard!" I screamed, lifting my hand to smack his shoulder. He flinched but made no protest. I dropped my hands and stood up from the bed in disgust.

"I'm sorry! She was just a rebound and she knew it!" He shrugged. "I haven't told her yet, I was going to but I haven't. You only overlapped a day." He tried to sound helpful but instead made me bristle in anger.

"I cannot believe you Leonard!" I stormed out of the room and the apartment, once again ignoring the bewildered Sheldon who sat in his spot watching her. I slammed my apartment door shut, ignoring the jingle of my cutlery that decorated the room. I sat there for a while in front of the television, crying quietly and eating ice cream.

"I need comfort." I muttered as I headed blindly to talk to the one guy I knew would reluctantly listen and wouldn't pitch in with ways of making Leonard seem like a nice person.

Sheldon, despite his lack of advice, was actually a great comfort to me. He put up little objection to me coming in his room and pouring my heart out to him. Sometimes it's a great relief to just have someone listen to you once in a while. I lost track of how long I sat there, rolling in my own shitty feelings, before I heard the knocks I kind of wanted to hear but never knew I wanted.

Knock, knock, knock.

"Penny!"

Knock, knock, knock.

"Penny!"

Knock, knock, knock.

"Penny!"

I stumbled up from the bed, smoothed my hair and went to greet him at the door. He was wearing his green arrow bull's-eye T-shirt, which I always secretly liked seeing him in. _He looks good in green. Wait- what?! _I managed to keep a straight face, despite the fact I'd just admitted to thinking Sheldon looked good at all.

"Hey Sheldon. What's up?"

"I have to thank you for your cleaning." His voice sounded faintly robotic.

"Oh that's alright sweetie, I thought it was the least I could do, given the fact I stomped into your room which I'm not allowed in past your bedtime, and tattled to you about issues you don't normally give a crap about." I waved him modestly. His face was expressionless as he digested all I'd said. I could practically hear those clogs whirring in that big brain of his.

"Very well. Where is Leonard currently?" He began again. If I didn't know better, I thought I could detect a hint of anger in his bright blue eyes. I was probably over-analyzing and thought nothing more of it.

"Why would I know?" My tone was strained, trying very hard to be patient with his question.

"There's no reason why you shouldn't know." He reasoned. With a purposeful sigh, I wiped my forehead.

"Sheldon, I want nothing more to do with that little… ass. To be honest, I don't care where he is. To be honest, I wouldn't care if he was trying to jump off a freaking building." Sheldon's face became animated then, first looking surprise and then haughty.

"Surprisingly, this is not the first time you've said you don't care if 'Leonard jumps off a building'." He used quotation marks for the last five words of his sentence.

"And your point is..?" I suggested, feeling my patience wane.

"My point remains that you often say it, yet you always forgive him. There has been a steady pattern emerging since you first moved in to apartment 4B Penny. You may not have noticed, but I have." I was unsure at first, but I was then certain that something changed in his voice. His voice lowered in pitch, and his Texan accent became more prominent. He took a single step forward, and I felt shivers curl down my back. _It's just Sheldon- what's wrong with you girl? God I need more sleep, _I thought.

"Thanks for taking the time to stop by Sheldon. If you have nothing more to say that will be any use to me, I'd like to get some shut-eye." I invited him to leave.

"Goodbye Penny." He said, and abruptly turned and entered his own apartment without even looking back. I clicked the door shut, and leant my back against it.

"What the hell?" I looked around my apartment, and forgot what had just happened between me and Sheldon out of loneliness. I kinda missed Leonard. With a jolt, I was reminded of when I first met the two across the hall in apartment 4A, and what I said to them as I cried.

**"_I just… I can't believe I trusted him. You want to know the most pathetic part? Even though I hate his lying, cheating guts, I still love him... Is that crazy?"_**

I laughed as I realised from the flashback Sheldon was right (but we all know he's always right). There was a pattern, but not just from when I moved here. My whole life is a pattern. Fall in love, get cheated on, cry, fall in love, get cheated on, cry.

"Well, when I get off my ass tomorrow morning after spending this last day of being a saddo who can't live a life without cheaters, it changes." I said to myself as I combed through my hair.

"No more cheating asswipes for me. I've had my fun, and now I need to be serious about being with someone." I continued as I settled down to formulate a game plan in my mind whilst I fell asleep, listening to Lily Allen.

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**So, do you guys like? I totally fangirled when I unintentionally discovered the pilot scene when Penny says that, and how it fits in with her feelings towards Leonard, and what Sheldon says about her patterns! **

**Ugh, I felt for a brief moment like an awesome frakking genius.**

**Stay tuned! xxx**


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm not so sure about this chapter tbh, I just really needed to get rid of something (I'll elaborate in the author notes following the chapter). I don't like how ooc they all are, I think I used "dude" too much for Raj and Howard was OOC too. I made Sheldon have slight feelings, so nobody shoot me here! **

**Please R&R, this is one of the most important R&R's I need.**

**Also, I think from now on this shall be from Penny's POV, it would make sense. I got down most of the emotions I need the reader to be aware of for Sheldon so I think it'll be Penny from now on, although I might switch on occasion to keep the story fresh.**

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**Chapter 3 ~ Game of pricks**

_I've entered the game of pricks  
With knives in the back of me  
Can't call you or on you no more  
When they're attacking me ~ Guided by Voices_

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**Sheldon POV**

I heard Howard and Raj tread noisily up the stairs, disrespecting the "no loud noises before 10 am" rule that had been put in place by the council, specifically aimed towards our friend group. After two minutes of incessant thumping, they came to a stop outside the door. I pulled the door open just before they knocked, causing them to be revealed to me with their mouths agape, their balled fists raised to the door.

"Oh hey dude. Seen Leonard?" Raj asked as he walked past me into the room and straight to the refrigerator.

"Not since last night. He was not in his room this morning, so I asked Penny about his current location and she said-" I was cut off by Howard wincing and loudly gritting his teeth.

"Oooh, bad move- they broke up last night didn't they?"

"Yes, although it was entirely Leonard's fault. Penny was a victim."

"How the frak would you know?" Raj demanded as he raucously opened a can of Mountain Dew.

"At this time of the morning Raj? The citric acid in that one can of soda is highly corrosive, intensified in an empty stomach, thus causing painful and obstructive stomach ulcers. You haven't had breakfast yet, so the acid will damage your stomach." I explained.

"How can you tell I haven't eaten yet?" He challenged.

"Your breath for a start-" Raj cut me off by making an unnecessary sound that resembled, when written down, "Blaaarghsdg".

"Anyway, how do you know more about Penny's love life than us?" Howard pressed. He sounded intrigued, but I couldn't be sure.

"Because she barged into my room, informed me of the matter at hand between the two of them and then left after touching me without necessity." I explained matter-of-factly. _When did these two become so dependent on me explaining everything, when all they have to do is walk across the hall and ask the woman concerned herself?_

"So what's going on between the two? Have they had make-up sex yet?" Howard leant forward with his question. I rolled my eyes at his Homo Sapien nature.

"I shall repeat what I was thinking merely a minute ago for the sake of you lesser-intellectuals. Why must you ask me when I neither care nor know properly when right across the hall rests the woman who you're so eager to nose about?" They both stopped breathing for an instant, taking in my questions.

"Because it's not 11 am yet and she's upset. She's bad enough on those two occasions separately, but at the same time? That's like Russian roulette except only one cylinder is bullet free." Raj shrugged

"Actually, it's more like Russian roulette where every cylinder has a freaking bullet, and it's just the case of who manages to run away without getting caught or shot." Howard pitched in, much to my distaste.

"The chances of Penny shooting you in the head are-" I began before I was once again interrupted.

"Actually very high- she has Nebraska in her veins." Howard laughed, earning an unhygienic "high-five" from a soda-wielding Raj.

"Leonard told Penny that he'd been cheating on her." They both went silent as I explained, much to my relief. _So that's how you silence them- tell them something they'd consider shocking or important. I must write that down at some point. _

"Who with dude?"

"Leslie Winkle." I scowled disapprovingly. Leonard's choice in Leslie was saddening. Actually, Leonard's choices altogether recently were saddening.

"Oh. My. God. I had no idea! If I had any clue that was the deal, I wouldn't have taken him to the bar. Or anywhere." Howard gasped. He pulled out his cell and called someone.

"Hey Bernie. Yes… Later on you need to cheer up Penny… Leonard cheated on her… Yeah I know! I would never have guessed him of all… Okay… Yes, maybe bringing her bestie would cheer her up too… Yes, grab Amy while you're there… Bye baby… Love you more… You hang up!" Their conversation dragged on and on, and I felt my heart sinking each time he spoke. My eyes snapped up from their position staring at the floor to the phone Howard gripped when I heard him mention Amy.

"Well, later on after lunch the girls are all going out for meals, and they're taking their dates. Which means, Sheldon, you're coming with us." Howard said gravely.

"Is it a necessary social protocol?" I moaned wearily. I hated social protocols.

"Yes, it is. One of your closest friends and your girlfriend's bestest friend is upset and you need to contribute." Raj interjected.

"Traitors." I snarled. I went to my laptop and began researching how to make Penny feel better and camouflage in to society just for one evening of intoxicated couples canoodling in a dim, unsanitary restaurant. I heard slams on the doors of the apartment and outside for the next few hours, and after I almost dozed off due to boredom of the research I endured, I walked into the living room to see who was currently in the apartment. I stopped short in the doorway when I saw Leonard, slumped in my spot on the couch. I bristled as I spoke to him.

"Good…" I checked my watch for the correct time, "Prevening Leonard." He nodded in acknowledgement but didn't speak. I sternly crossed my arms and stalked to stand in front of his line of vision.

"You have a lot of explaining to do, I believe." I continued, pressing for a verbal response.

"To whom?" He finally asked.

"Me."

"I owe you nothing Sheldon." He sighed, fiddling with his glasses lens.

"Yes you do. I was forced to listen to a crying Penny over your problems. And Leslie Winkle? Really Leonard, I'm disappointed." He stared at me for a moment, his expression one of surprise and guilt.

"I'm sorry Sheldon. I feel guilty for the whole ordeal. It was a stupid mistake."

"You're only human." I muttered.

"Have you spoken to Penny since last night?"

"Yes, to ask her if she had seen you, to which she replied with a resounding no and asked me to leave."

"I need to explain to her properly." He murmured, and I supposed he was talking to himself and not me.

"Well, best of luck to you. She was very aggravated when I spoke to her. Not that I care particularly." I sniffed. In all honesty, something deep within me felt very uneasy talking to Leonard. I was still quite angry that he would do something which was apparently cruel to Penny. I didn't understand the magnitude of the issue at hand, but it must have been quite bad for Penny was reduced to tears.

A knock at the door snapped me from my thoughtful reverie, and I answered it promptly. Stood before me was Amy, a hopeful expression on her face. She wasn't wearing her usual attire- she wore a shirt that revealed her cleavage, and a pair of jeans. Her hair was curled and she was wearing Penny's black make-up. She looked uncomfortable, unsure what to do with her hands, folding them in front of her.

"Amy? What have you done to yourself?" I asked her in shock. She blinked slowly, her eyelids fluttering.

"Hello Sheldon. You haven't spoken to me since you abruptly left our doomed conversation yesterday night." She gestured a question with her arms, asking if she could come in without actually saying it. I stepped to the side to let her past.

She walked up to the wall near my bedroom, and leant one arm above her head against the wall, the other hand placed on her hip.

"See anything you like, Sheldon?" Her voice was husky. It didn't suit her therefore I grimaced, trying to convey my discomfort.

"I see you, I suppose." I shrugged, unsure as to what she was looking for.

"See anything you want, Sheldon?" She tried again, her voice breathless and huskier still. I was unable to talk.

"Amy, this isn't like you at all. Did Howard put you up to this?" She shook her head.

"No, Penny put me up to this. She said she was positive it would work. Actually, I wanted to do this." She said enigmatically, as she paced forward to meet me before kissing me on the lips. I remained still throughout, my mind racing with ideas as to the correct response and reaction. After she failed to initiate a response, she broke apart. She looked sad- but again I couldn't tell properly.

"Are you sad?"

"Yes Sheldon I am sad, strangely enough. I'm not used to feeling like this, but I do."

"Why are you sad?"

"Because I feel like we're not going as smoothly as we used to. Where did the magic go?" The way she said her last sentence sounded scripted, so I narrowed my eyes at her.

"Magic? This is not a JK Rowling story, this is reality. Our relationship is one of the mind; everything else is unnecessary poppycock."

"What if I said that maybe I want to expand the relationship to… outside of the mind?" She proposed. I sighed- I had feared this question for a while.

"I'd say no. I'm not sure we're very compatible in physical aspects. Something's not right; my spidey-senses feel it." I explained.

"Then perhaps we should break up. I need someone who can provide me excitement as well as intellectual conversations." I considered this- it was a big thing to think about, apparently.

"Very well. It was nice to be in a relationship with you Amy Farrah Fowler. Let yourself out- I have to go and discuss a matter with Penny once again." I strode from the room, metaphorically leaving behind my relationship. I felt slightly empty- it was a strange feeling I wasn't used to.

Knock, knock, knock.

"Penny!"

Knock, knock, knock.

"Penny!"

Knock, knock, knock.

"Penny!"

She opened the door rather slowly, a twinkle in her green eyes suggesting she knew something I did not- not that _that's_ possible.

"What's the word, hummingbird?" She rhymed familiarly, smiling softly. I liked it when she was smiling, but only if she smiled pleasantly and not mischievously.

"I came to inform you that Amy will probably want some attention from you, since you are her 'bestie'." I air-quoted, before turning and walking down the stairs.

"Why?!" She called.

"You'll find out soon enough!" I replied loudly, wanting to be enigmatic. I didn't smile for I had no reason to. I was alone and had no one to smile for.

* * *

**So yeah, I really wanted to get Amy "romantically" out of the picture, I am in no way bashing any other ship but I'm not as fond of Shamy as I am of Shenny. So here's a warning to Shamy-strict fans;**

**THIS IS A SHENNY STORY. NO SHAMY OR LENNY WILL BE FOUND HERE. THIS STORY WILL BLOW HOLES IN YOUR SHIPS.**

**See you soon xxx**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hell-o! It's been a long time, I know, and I apologise profusely. However, I'm back with another chapter! It's a bit weak of Penny for what she does in this chapter, but I really wanted that out of the way so I could get on with some SHENNY! Btw I think I'll stick to Penny's POV for now- it's easier to write for her. **

**Please R&R!**

* * *

**Chapter 4 ~ The Waiting One.**

_Now how the quiet is release,  
And I feel so lonely._

* * *

**Penny POV**

I felt awful when Amy came in to my apartment. There were tears in her eyes, her make-up smudged. I pulled her in and slammed the door.

"Amy? What happened?" She sniffed in sadness.

"I ended my relationship with Sheldon." My jaw dropped- I wasn't expecting that at all.

"What? Why? You were dressed up and looking fine. What did he do?" I exclaimed, gesturing to her clothes.

"He ignored all my advances, brushing me aside like I was a common street hobo. I am most displeased- so I ended it. He agreed to it, and we terminated the agreement." She said, as her voice hardened. My eyes widened at everything she was saying.

"Oh Amy, I'm sorry this is all my fault!" I rubbed her shoulders to comfort her, and she smiled at me.

"That's okay bestie- it's for the best. Now I can go find a man like Sheldon but sexually active, and more like Jacob from Twilight." She swooned. I giggled at her inner-teenager.

"I know what you need! Lots and lots of alcohol." I ran over to the wine cabinet and grabbed the first bottle I saw. I cheered loudly as I saw it was almost full. She smiled at the bottle and I grabbed two glasses from the sink. They smelt clean, so I filled them up and handed Amy one. We clinked them.

"Here's to being free." I toasted. She muttered the same, and together we downed our drinks. Amy winced as she swallowed, but silently outstretched the glass for more. I nodded at her in approval before filling her up. Fairly soon enough, Amy was totally wasted. I hadn't even drunk two whole glasses- I was too distracted. I called Leonard from my own apartment, too pissed off to see him myself.

"Leonard, Amy needs taking home. You can friggin' do it." I didn't waste time greeting him.

"Why doesn't Sheldon do it? He's her boyfriend, not me."

"Sheldon didn't tell you? Or did you just not listen again? Amy broke up with Sheldon." I sneered.

"I still don't get why I should do it." I was shocked- did he not care about Sheldon at all? He didn't even hesitate!

"You'd better fucking do it Leonard. Or I will kick your ass seven ways to Sunday." I warned. I heard him gulp.

"Fine, I'll be there in a minute."

"No, you're not stepping one foot in my apartment. Amy's coming over to you." I hung up the phone and slammed it on the table. Amy hiccupped as she ogled me curiously.

"What?" I asked. I composed myself; realising Leonard had put me in a bad mood.

"Nothing- just watching my beautiful bestie. Your hair is golden in the light." She slurred. I rolled my eyes and escorted her from my apartment to Sheldon's. I knocked on the door, saw her in and rushed away before Leonard could see me. I shut my door on the rest of the world, and drunk my vodka to oblivion. I remembered Amy was due to go on a triple date thingy with Sheldon, and giggled as I realised that neither would go on the date, since they'd broken up. And I certainly couldn't go on the date thingy- I was too pissed. Before I passed out, a single thought crossed my mind.

_Sheldon wouldn't have done this to me._

When I had woken up the next day, sober and completely hung-over, I reflected on what Amy had told me. My game plan wasn't really to break them up- they were in such a good place. I felt incredibly guilty as I remembered that I knew Sheldon would be totally put off by Amy dressed up with make up. I continued anyway, despite the fact I knew all along what the most likely outcome would be. I was jealous, mostly drunk and completely pissed for most of the plan. _What do I do now? _I asked myself silently, staring around the apartment. Another unexpected thought popped into my head. _Maybe I should listen to what Leonard has to say. I've known him for so many years, almost six whole years in fact. He's not the kind of guy I usually date, and he's certainly not a jerk like the rest of them. There must be a justifiable reason for what he did- and he overlapped one day only. _Troubled, I took some Alka-Seltzer and washed it down with some water. Bracing myself, I showered and dressed, grabbing the first compatible clothes I found scattered around my room.

"I need to let Sheldon clean again." I muttered. I left the apartment, thinking through what I needed to say. The day was Sunday and if I didn't get there quick enough, the boys would scatter for paintball. Nervously, I knocked on the door, to be greeted by Sheldon. I smiled.

"Hey Moonpie!" He smiled up until I said his nickname.

"No one calls me Moonpie but mee-maw!" He hissed. I smiled at him.

"Is Leonard around?" I weaved my hands together anxiously.

"He's gone to the store to pick up some herbal tea." He responded. I hoped he would ask me in- I secretly loved our conversations.

"Will he be back soon?" I asked, slightly hinting. He stared blankly at me, which was a sign his brain was processing the possible outcomes about each response he formulated to my question. I laughed quietly to myself about how scientific I sounded in my mind.

"Well, by my calculations…" Panicking, I cut him off. When he began lecturing, he didn't stop.

"No, it's okay. I'll assume he'll be back soon." I turned to leave, biting back the slight disappointment I felt.

"Would you like to come in?" He offered, and a smile lit up my face.

"Oh yes please!" I said, jogging through his door. He shut the door behind him and took his place in his spot. I sat closer to him than usual, I realised. I didn't dare move in case I brought attention to myself and the fact I was close. I was surprised he hadn't noticed. I peered at him suspiciously. He turned to look at me. I blushed when I noticed this and quickly turned away. _ I lost my cool! _My mind yelled.

"Listen, I'm sorry to hear about Amy. How're you feeling about it?" He looked confused as he answered me.

"I do not understand- how am I feeling about what?"

"You and Amy no longer being Shamy." I explained.

"I feel nothing. We both agreed it wasn't going to be beneficial to anything or anyone. I feel nothing about everything." He replied, shrugging and looking at his hands. I narrowed my eyes at him- he was concealing something. Could Sheldon be feeling an emotion? About the break-up? My heart pounded as I thought maybe he wasn't as emotionless about the situation as he led her to believe.

"Sheldon, are you hiding something from me?" He looked up, and I could tell he was hiding something.

"No…" He said unconvincingly.

"Are you sure?" I asked, my tone victorious.

"Fine. I'm sad." My face crumpled in sadness for him.

"Oh sweetie, I'm here for you-" He shot me a dirty look which stopped me in my tracks.

"No. You cannot bring it back." I was surprised by how emotional he was getting. I was so shocked I almost moved to hug him.

"I want it back." He whimpered. I twitched forward, and stopped. Should someone refer to a relationship as an 'it' as much as he did?

"Want what back?" I asked cautiously.

"My batman cookie jar. I dropped it on the floor and it broke." My jaw dropped- I had thought for an honest moment Sheldon was being… human.

"Sheldon! I meant with Amy! You're getting all sentimental over a freakin' cookie jar?" I exclaimed, standing up. He looked completely surprised at my outburst. I was tempted to thwack him if Leonard had not opened the apartment and walked in. He squinted at me in anxiety.

"Hey." He mumbled. Sheldon nodded at Leonard, and I turned to face him. I composed myself and spoke.

"Leonard- I think we need to talk." I breathed. His eyes widened before he nodded eagerly.

"Sure. Do you want to come in to my room?" I didn't want to really, but I wasn't ready to let Leonard in to my apartment yet either. A rock and a hard place.

"Umm… yeah." I nodded, before leading the way as usual. He closed the door and I sat down on the bed, arms folded.

"Okay Leonard- I've had time to think. And now I've thought about it- you're not the kind of guy that would be the jerk I wanted to set myself apart from… boyfriend-wise. You would never do something like this to me in your right mind- I've known you so long. So please tell me your side of the story- I want to… go back to how we were." I began. He sighed and explained.

"After we broke up, I went to Leslie Winkle. She pitied me as usual, and we sort of had a fling. I told her that it would never be anything serious, and she agreed with me yet we still continued. When you suggested we try to make it work again, it was too good an opportunity to waste. So I started dating you again, trying to find away to let Leslie down easy. She's pretty terrifying when you upset her." He shrugged. I sighed in relief as I realised Leonard wasn't the bad guy. I had heard stories of Leslie before- she sounded notorious to say the least.

"Leonard, how long did this… overlap run?"

"Well… it's obvious." His eyes darted shiftily. I scowled at him, before continuing.

"So you only overlapped for like a day and a half, right?" He nodded. I pondered what to do for a moment, before enveloping him in a tentative hug.

"Leonard… I know what you did was an accident. You're easily intimidated by women. I… forgive you." I whispered in his ear. He hugged me back, sighing in relief and happiness.

"So we can go back to being friends?"

"Yeah. But nothing more- I think that ship's sailed sweetie." I said, quite sadly. That is another chapter in my life over. He didn't answer. I rubbed his shoulder and walked out of the door, feeling lighter. Sheldon was still in his spot, staring at me.

"Have you resumed your relationship with Leonard?" He asked, his eyes never leaving the television screen.

"No. We both agree that it's time we stopped trying. We're just gonna leave it as friends." He blinked in- I think- acknowledgement and said no more. I left the apartment, only to hear Sheldon call me.

"Penny, wait!" I turned back around to see him at the door. His eyes were wide, but his lips remained mashed in a tight line.

"What?" I tried not to sound exasperated, but I wasn't feeling great, emotionally and physically.

"I am… glad you are okay." He struggled to say. My face softened at his words.

"You mean that?" I asked softly. I knew I'd pushed it because he looked at me and his face remained blank.

"I suppose. The last thing I wish to endure is you moping about my place like a sad-sack and eating all our food. You do that when menstruating- you'd just be worse with this Leonard situation." He admitted before closing the door in my face. If he had said that to me five years ago, I would've been hurt- deeply. However, now it merely stung lightly. It was in Sheldon's nature, and some things never change.

* * *

**Okay... so a bit sentimental for Penny, perhaps? Drop me a review and let me know what you think ^.^**

**There will be cute moments, angsty moments, romantic moments and completely mopy moments in this fic (I plan anyway). I'll try and update ASAP. :) **

**See you soon! .**


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank God this ruddy chapter is finally finished! I started writing, got one page from finishing and started again, got one page from finishing that redo and went back to finish the first one and tweaked it to oblivion. So I've just gone "Well feck it" and published it- I hope it's okay!**

**Should I stay with this POV or make it a general one? The second version of this chapter was written from a general perspective. Please review and let me know! I know it's been a while, and I'm sorry. I'll try and be quicker next time- it's hard to write when you have writer's block. **

* * *

**Chapter 5 ~ Don't Panic**

_Bones sinking like stones _  
_All that we've fought for _  
_Homes, places we've grown _  
_All of us are done for _

_We live in a beautiful world _  
_Yeah we do _  
_Yeah we do _  
_We live in a beautiful world_

* * *

"Have you heard from Amy at all?" Asked Bernadette, her high-pitched voice close to my ear. I winced slightly and turned to look at her.

"No. She's working extra hard to make up for her lack of decent work apparently." I sighed, sifting through the shirts to find a decent bargain. It could be so hard sometimes, especially since I only had my crummy job at the Cheesecake Factory.

"Lack of decent work?" Bernadette repeated, confused.

"I know. Apparently Sheldon was a distraction to her focus." I said, using quotation signs. Bernadette chuckled.

"She always assumed she was in a heart-stopping romance! He's the Sheldon Cooper, not some sparkly vampire!" She laughed

"I know." I shook my head as I pulled out a cute tank top with a kitten on it. I remembered when Sheldon shouted at my Hello Kitty shorts one time, enraged by my comment to Leonard about liking toys. I smiled rather fondly and checked the price tag.

"What do you think?" I asked, holding it against my chest and modelling it for her. She nodded in approval before grabbing a shoe box.

"Another pair." I said. It wasn't a question.

"Yes. I need therapy."

"What for?"

"It's an excuse. I could say period- except that was a week and a half ago." She speculated. I envied her- she was married to Howard and happily so. I was still alone, with not even enough money to pay for a new coat for the winter.

"Ready to go?" I asked, covering the sadness. Bernadette nodded, but gave me a strange look.

"Are you ok?" She asked me, looking at me intently. I laughed in nervousness at her question and looked around me.

"Um… yeah. Why?"

"You seem a little tense." She tilted her head to the side.

"Do I? Sorry. I don't feel tense." I said helpfully. We strode over to the cashier and paid for our items. The guy working the cashier was cute- very cute. He had dusty blonde, floppy hair and bright blue eyes. He was fairly muscular and had pink lips. Bernadette winked at me. I gulped in preparation to turn on the charm- but something put me off. I normally was a sucker for green eyes- they reminded me of summer- of the grass. But over time, I found myself preferring blue eyes. When I thought of people with blue eyes, the first name that came to my mind was Sheldon. I puzzled over my sudden change in preference- especially since I remembered all through high school I dreamed of marrying Prince Charming- blonde with gorgeous green eyes. I shrugged mentally- why did eye colour even matter? I prepared an opening line. But all I could think of, at that one moment, was what Sheldon had said to me. "I am… glad you are okay."

"Penny. Penny. Penny! You need to pay!" Bernadette said, waving a hand in front of my face. Startled, I thrust my hand in front of the cashier guy with my purse in hand. I'd never seen a guy look so scared. What was up with me today?

I needed to talk to Sheldon. I don't know why, but I knew I had to. So I rather impatiently got through lunch with Bernadette and rushed back to my apartment. She knew something was up and rushed with me in understanding. I knew I'd hear about it later though. I fell on my bed, staring up at the ceiling. I honed in on the rather strange stain on my ceiling which had been there since I moved in. It looked like a orange pizza stain. I used it to focus on whilst I thought. I needed to clear my mind. When did I start fixating on Sheldon? He's just Sheldon! A familiar sound roused me from my thoughts earlier than expected.

Knock, knock, knock. "Penny!"

Knock, knock, knock. "Penny!"

Knock, knock, knock. "Penny!"

I rose slowly, smoothing my hair as I went. I hummed to myself a Lilly Allen song whilst I undid the latch and swung open the door. I was greeted by a pleasantly smiling Sheldon. My heart fluttered slightly- since when had it done that? Maybe I ought to go see a doctor- my mum had the same issue and-

"Penny, as riveting as your mother's heart problems are, I have come here for an important reason and I'd like to see it through." Sheldon interrupted.

"Did I say that out loud?!" I exclaimed, completely shocked.

"Yes. Now, I need to ask you about Leonard." He continued, shooting me a frustrated look. I sighed at the name.

"What about Leonard?"

"Will you end up engaging in raucous coitus again as a form of make-up?"

"No!" I cried, disgusted.

"Will you be friends with benefits?" He continued.

"No! Stop asking these questions!" I shouted at him, childishly putting my hands over my ears.

"I don't see the error in my questions." He shrugged.

"You can't go round asking people those sorts of questions. They're personal. Besides, I've already made up with Leonard… sort of." I said, calming down. He considered my words- you could practically hear the clogs working in that interesting mind of his.

"You look tired. Or you have the early symptoms of flu."

"I'm just… not myself." I admitted.

"Flu?" He pushed, eager to be proved right. I shook my head at him.

"No- I just feel strange." I shrugged, struggling to find the right words to explain how I was feeling. His shoulders sagged in disappointment.

"Oh."

"Why do you care about my sex life anyway?" He flinched at the word sex, but answered me anyway.

"Because I enjoy routines- and your make-up coitus with Leonard has become a routine."

"Are you basically suggesting that you enjoy Leonard and me having sex?"

"I now realise too late that my choice of words were not the best. I meant that I would like to know about any and all changes to my routine." He explained, his eye twitching. His eye normally twitched when he was lying, or when he had drunk way too much alcohol- which rarely happened since the awards incident. I narrowed my eyes and leaned closer. I was invading his personal space and we both knew it. Our faces were inches apart, and my eyes subconsciously travelled from his soft green eyes to his sharp cheekbones. But their wandering didn't stop there- it carried on going until eventually they laid to rest on his lips. He didn't move but stayed rock still.

"I want to be happy." I murmured, not even thinking about the words before they tumbled out. He looked startled, breaking the spell. Then he turned and ran into his apartment, his arms flailing awkwardly in his rush to escape me.

"Too much emotion for Dr. Cooper." I muttered. I wondered if he was lying when he spoke of the whole routine thing. What could he possibly have to hide? I decided he must have just had a twitch. We all get them sometimes, right? And what the hell was that whole "I want to be happy" thing? I had completely out-cheesed myself! When did I ever do anything like that to anyone? I was shocked with myself and puzzled. I closed the door and leant my back against it, huffing. I checked the time and nodded to myself. I had half an hour until I had to get off to work. I tiredly hopped in the shower and washed myself, put on my uniform and curled my hair. The more volume it had, the better. Just as I was heading out the door, handbag in hand, I walked into Howard and Bernadette, returning from whatever lovey-dovey even they had agreed to participate in.

"Oh hey guys!" I smiled cheerily, locking up my apartment and putting the keys back in my bag.

"Hi Penny." They both said in unison. They giggled and nudged each other's noses with their noses like in the cheesy romance movies. I stopped myself before I rolled my eyes and snorted in disgust.

"Where have you guys come from?"

"Sex." Howard answered, smiling really creepily. Seriously? He's only been back from the space mission a week and a half and already he's back to being a total pervert.

"Good to know." I muttered, walking past them.

"We're staying for the rest of the evening- when you're shift is over, come round!" Penny offered.

"Will do." I shrugged her off, silently dreading the thought of facing both Sheldon and Leonard in the same room at the same time.

"What is it tonight?" I called.

"Thai food!" Howard shouted back.

"Of course- I'll get it tonight." I replied.

I returned with Thai food, remembering Sheldon's specific orders. I couldn't decide if he wanted the Cashew Chicken or the mee krob meal. I did consider calling to find out, but since I was at the Szechuan Palace I decided to get him the Cashew Chicken. If he didn't like it, he'd have to get on with it. I kicked the door awkwardly with my foot, both hands full. Leonard opened it, guessing I wouldn't be able to myself. He smiled at me and let me in.

"Hi." He said quietly.

"Hi." I responded, equally quiet, my eyes to the ground. We settled down to eat. No one spoke for a while- you could smell the awkwardness in the air, and I managed to suppress a cringe.

"So…" Raj began, looking at me directly in the eye. He raised an eyebrow expectantly, so I raised one back in challenge. He averted his gaze and tried again.

"So Howard… how's work?" Raj smiled sweetly.

"You visit me every day at work and ask." Howard replied bluntly. I frowned at his response- he was always so warm with Raj. Raj's face fell and he looked down at his food again. My heart squeezed in sympathy, and I shot Howard the dirtiest of dirty looks available. He gave me a look of bewilderment, and Bernie gave me a look of concern.

"Howard!" I chided.

"I'm sorry Raj- I'm a little tense." He admitted.

"What's the problem?" Asked Leonard. I glanced at Sheldon briefly- he was sat, unmoving, staring at Howard. What's his deal?

"Bernie and I are moving out." Howard announced. My eyes widened.

"Why aren't you celebrating? You're free!" I said, raising my arms in silent cheers.

"There's too much to think about to celebrate! I mean, where are we going to go? My mother can't cope without all her special needs- who's gonna help her get in and out of the bath? Who's going to help her when she gets stuck in the doorway?" He cried, throwing his fork onto the food. Sheldon became animated and proclaimed; "I say the C-Men get together to save the day!" To which we all replied by groaning and avoiding eye contact.

"Penny?" My head shot up when I heard my name, especially coming from his lips.

"Yeah?" I asked suspiciously, narrowing my eyes.

"Do you have an issue with my C-Men?" Raj giggled behind closed lips and Leonard snorted.

"No Sheldon, I haven't got an issue with your C-Men. I just think that Howard ought to try and solve this on his own, with Bernadette's help." I reasoned. Sheldon's eyebrows knitted together.

"Oh. I hadn't considered that. I was trying to be a hero."

"Sweetie you already are a hero- remember my lack of adhesive ducks? The hero never peeks?" I explained, smiling. He gave me a fairly sweet smile in response.

"In that respect, I am a hero." He shrugged audaciously.

"Arrogant sod." I muttered, loud enough for him to hear.

"Penny, I need to ask you a favour." Sheldon continued.

"Sure, what's up Moonpie?" I asked innocently, batting my eyelids.

"No one calls me moonpie but Meemaw!" He hissed. "Anyway, Missy's getting married in a few weeks, and she threatened to go all karate on my backside unless I attend in my best suit." I smiled in happiness at the news.

"Oh tell her I said congratulations!" I cried.

"You can tell her yourself. I must come with a plus-one, apparently. Since Amy Farrah Fowler is no longer my girlfriend, I have no female counterpart to bring along. I choose you as Amy's replacement." My mouth formed an o-shape as I understood what he was asking me.

"Why don't you take one of the boys?"

"Missy has a strong cream addiction. I want to bring along someone who doesn't break wind upon contact with lactose- that rules out Leonard. I need someone who can engage in conversations for me, of both male and female- that rules out Raj. I need someone who can hold off innuendos for the sake of the old women who have frail hearts- that rules out Howard. I need you." He finished. I was astounded by his explanation.

"Umm… I'll see what I can do. If I'm free that day, I'll come with you. For now, however, do you have a suit for the wedding?" He shook his head.

"Well, next Saturday I'll take you out suit shopping." I concluded. For the rest of the evening and indeed the night the same three words ran through my mind- I need you. He said he needed me, even if his intention was not a romantic one- just a childish, needy one.

* * *

**Yes, this has been edited because a review mentioned a few things. So yeah. Thanks a lot, next time perhaps without the sarcastic undertones? ;)**

**Anyway, Sheldon's such a sweetheart omg**

**See you soon dears x**


	6. Chapter 6

**Ok, this took forever but I got it up, apologies for the lateness! Also I take all your reviews into account and apologise profusely for the use of British phrases- I don't have the time or energy to get a beta so instead rely on you lot. If you spot something that isn't right for a typical American then please let me know and I'll change it. :)**

**Also, I'm going to use no one's specific perspective in particular, let me know if it works better or if you prefer anything else. :)**

* * *

**Chapter 6~ Flowers for a Ghost**

_Who will bring me flowers when it's over  
And who will give me comfort when it's cold  
Who will I belong to when the day just won't give in  
And who will tell me how it ends and how it all begins_

Don't ever say goodbye

I'm only human  
I'm only human  
I'm only human

* * *

Penny checked her watch routinely every few minutes. She was anxious to leave the apartment, but knew Sheldon wouldn't arrive until 11. She considered knocking on the boys' door and collecting him early, but she knew it would completely mess up his routine. The last thing she needed was a twitchy Sheldon traipsing along behind her. It was only… 10:06, according to her watch. She still had a good fifty minutes. Sighing, she rummaged under her couch for the television remote. Her hand trailed and snaked under the piles of cushions, cutlery and clothing to the rigid control. She fumbled for the power button and slammed the controller back down on the couch beside her. The television was quiet, the volume quieter than usual. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she tapped the volume button. She wasn't one for Sheldon's crazy OCD habits, but she always had the volume turned up at 25, because it was not too loud, not too quiet and memorable. But for some reason, it was on 13. Had she been sleepwalking? She dismissed the idea before it poisoned her mind. _You're getting in too deep at the moment. He'll be in a tux- and you're a sucker for a guy in a tux, _her mind warned. There always was something incredibly sexy about a guy in a tuxedo- smartly dressed comes off as very, very sexy. No matter who the guy is. She pushed her thoughts to the back of her mind and instead got up to look at the mirror. She played with a strand of her hair.

"Perhaps it's time for a change." She muttered. She thoughtlessly grabbed a pair of hairdresser's scissors and went to cut off the lock she held, when she gasped and dropped it. Where the hell had that come from?!

"I need to get some air." She murmured. _I have a good forty-five, might as well make use of it. _She settled down on her bed and allowed herself to nap until Sheldon's arrival. Her nap was restless and unsatisfying, to say the least. She was half-conscious, still able to hear the clicks and rustling of movement outside her apartment. Eventually, the rustling completely roused her, as it sounded like it was coming from her living area.

"What the hell?" She mumbled as she trotted through the door… to a halt. Stood before her was Sheldon, tall, imposing and completely awkwardly holding one of her Wedding magazines she kept stashed away for when she felt blue and had a half-eaten Ben & Jerry's Cookie Dough ice cream lying about.

"Why do you still have this?" He asked.

"Sweetie, there are a ton of questions I have to ask you right now, you are not at liberty to ask about a simple magazine." Laughed Penny as she walked up to Sheldon and snatched the magazine from his spindly fingers. _Damn, he's taller than I reckoned, _she thought.

"A ton?"

"Literally a ton." Penny said, not paying much attention as she eyed the room to check for other embarrassing keepsakes. Sheldon snorted derisively.

"I sincerely doubt that. You cannot measure an amount of questions with metric measurements, as these questions are not a physical existence-" Penny rolled her eyes and bit her lip, biting back a harsh retort.

"Sweetie, why didn't you knock? I could've been naked for all you know."

"I knocked nine times exactly, Penny. You didn't answer so I thought you might be dead, so I came in. You weren't dead, but snoring loudly, so I busied myself whilst you ended your beauty sleep, as you so fondly put it." He explained, to Penny's surprise. She raised her eyebrows, taking his gesture to be a gentlemanly one. He wanted to make sure she was okay.

"Well, thank you for your concern. You're so sweet." She gushed and grabbed her purse from beneath a pile of neatly stacked jeans.

"Ready to go?" She breathed, brushing down her hair with her manicured fingers.

"Of course."

"Sweetie, you've tried on six different outfits. Just go with the first one I had you try on!" Shouted Penny. Sheldon had made a secondary home in the cubicle as he tried on ridiculous outfits.

"I feel like a clown in that one!" He whined.

"I'm gonna put my foot down, Moonpie." She warned, smirking at his Texas accent seeping through his aggravated tone.

"No-one calls me Moonpie but-" He was interrupted by the loud sound of his Superman ring tone blaring from his jeans slung over the cubicle door.

"Penny, be a star and get that for me." He demanded. She rolled her eyes and fumbled for the phone, trying to ignore that she was stroking where his behind once was. She slid the phone's lock and pressed the green button to answer the call.

"Hello?" The phone signal wasn't great in the mall, so the answer was fuzzy.

"Who's this?" A familiar, feminine voice responded. Penny knew the voice but couldn't quite place it.

"A friend of Sheldon's. He's… occupied. Who's this?"

"Missy."

"Hey Missy! How are you?" Penny exclaimed, beaming. She liked Missy's company; she was witty, clever and knew her way around the wardrobe.

"Actually I'm not so great. Can you put Sheldon on? It's important." Her tone was blunt, and sad. Penny's eyebrows furrowed and she swiftly replied.

"Umm, sure. Sounds serious. Let me just get him." She clasped the phone to her bosom and banged on Sheldon's door.

"Sweetie, it's your sister. She sounds serious, and she needs to talk to you." There was a brief silence before Sheldon rustled to the door.

"She's not supposed to call me for another two weeks." He grumbled, snatching the phone from her chest. Penny didn't even flinch; she was so used to Sheldon's privacy invasions. She sensed the conversation was private, and so wandered off to the shoes- it had become a subconscious thing of hers. Three pairs of shoes and three sighs of longing later and Sheldon emerged from the cubicles. He had a grave, confused and sad expression on her face. He looked so overcome with emotion that Penny's eyes widened. She had never seen so much emotion and so strongly on Sheldon's face before.

"What happened?" She cried, taking a step forward. His eyes were at his feet, never looking up. He mumbled a single response.

"Meemaw." Penny's heart stopped beating. Sheldon didn't experience emotions as simply as most people did; he rarely felt strong emotions. But, as with every superhero, there was a weakness and exception to this. The exception with Sheldon's emotions was his Meemaw. He adored his Meemaw, spoke of her often and cared for her deeply. Whatever happened to his grandmother must have been very, very serious.

"Is she okay?" Penny's tone was sympathetic and kind- Sheldon may need support. She dreaded to hear what ailment had befallen his beloved grandmother.

"She is in hospital. She suffered a stroke last night." His voice. It was so _quiet. _Penny's mouth hung open in shock.

"Oh Sheldon. I am so, so sorry! Is there anything I can do?" She made to move forward and stroke his arm comfortingly; then remembered. He would recoil and close himself from her completely. She was fortunate to get this close. He continued to walk until he was a step from being pressed against her. Despite his situation Penny couldn't help but gasp at the proximity. Since when had he been comfortable with such closeness? She didn't dwell on it, for she couldn't afford to.

"Here, let me pay for that suit. You go and sort yourself out and meet me back at the car when you're ready. Does that sound good?" He merely nodded and turned the opposite way. She wasn't even sure if there was anything he needed to do, but he needed some time to get things straight.

"Penny, you can't even afford gas enough. Take this money and pay for it." He said, handing her a wad of money. She was about to refuse, but he'd already stalked off before she could respond. She successfully reached the counter and paid for the suit, resisting the urge to pick up the second pair of shoes she had tried on. They were velvety to the touch and an attractive fuchsia colour, and suited her skin tone and hair colour well. She paid for the items and left the store. She dug her keys out of her purse and the door unlocked with a loud clunk. The radio was flicked on and Penny shut her eyes and waited nervously for Sheldon's return. She hoped both for his sake and Meemaw's that she would be okay. Roughly ten minutes later, her passenger door creaked open and a meek looking Sheldon entered. His face was considerably paler than usual, the dark circles under his eyes more prominent than usual.

"Hey Sheldon. Are you okay?"

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?" His Texas accent was more pronounced than usual, which was a dead giveaway that he wasn't okay. _Kudos to him for his acting, _she thought. _I need to warn the guys to take it easy. Drat! I shoulda done that when I was alone. I can't text and drive, that's totally illegal…_

"So… are you going to visit?" She was just trying to make idle conversation, not realising how potentially damaging her question was.

"Penny, please don't talk. I'm suffering from mild dysphoria- and I'd appreciate silence." His abrupt tone was laced with discomfort. _What the fuck is dysphoria?_

"Do you need me to drive you to the hospital?" She flinched at the coincidence between him and his Meemaw.

"No Penny- dysphoria doesn't require medical attention all the time. It is used to describe an unwell feeling, particularly depression, discontent and worldly indifference on occasion." His tone was matter-of-factly.

"You feeling depressed, sweetie?" She used her best sympathetic voice, knowing he needed something soothing and calm.

"Perhaps. I'm not sure. May I ask you a favour?" He ventured, still avoiding eye contact.

"Anything you want." She promised.

"Very well- can you stay in our apartment for the remainder of today? Without leaving?" The request was an easy one to fulfil.

"Of course! Why?"

"Because my sister wants to keep me updated on Meemaw's condition, and without sounding sentimental, it wouldn't hurt for a distraction." Penny's heart squeezed in sympathy for the guy- he was going through a lot. Sheldon was such a confused individual. Many dismissed him as a nuisance- a pain in their busy backsides. But the truth was he was special, and because he didn't relate to emotions the same way as others, he was treated differently. But on occasion, he displayed more emotions then certain individuals ever experienced in a lifetime. Penny felt lucky that she had seen these glimpses of Sheldon on occasion.

"Of course. I would love to… I mean, I wouldn't mind at all helping you. I'm just glad you're doing well." After a brief mental debate, she reached out and patted his hand held rigidly on his seatbelt, by his shoulder. He glanced at her face, and in his blue eyes were hints of gratefulness and acceptance, as well as discomfort and anxiety. Penny had never known so much emotion to be displayed in a single glance. She gulped and turned back to the road, dragging her hand away.

"I'm here for you." She said. They spent the rest of the journey in sullen silence, the tension so thick it could be cut with a cleaver. They pulled up outside the flats and made their way up the stairs leisurely. Again, the tension was mounted and no one spoke. Before they knew it, both were stood outside 4A. All three of the guys were in there, as well as Bernadette- they were watching the television intently. Howard and Leonard both had mischievous smirks on their faces.

"You were gone a long time, alone with Sheldon…" Howard said wistfully. Penny glared ferociously at him and turned back to Sheldon, who was staring absent-mindedly at his phone. From what she could see, the phone was on standby, which meant Sheldon was deep in thought.

"Hey- go into my apartment and put the suit in my room, I'll sort it out later." She waved him off, and made to turn around.

"Can I clean your apartment?" He asked hopefully. Out of habit, Penny made to retort with a sharp no, but she remembered that he needed the distraction.

"Sure. If it's your coping mechanism, fine." She turned and shut Sheldon's apartment

"Guys, I need to-"

"So, what were you two up to? It doesn't take three odd hours to get a suit." Howard interjected sleazily, wiggling his eyebrows. Leonard sniggered before replying, "Trust me, with Sheldon it does." Penny fumed and shouted as she shoved her bags on the floor angrily.

"Oh my God shut up! Sheldon's upset and the last thing anyone needs is you idiots messing him up!" Howard shrunk back in his seat whilst Leonard adjusted his glasses nervously. Raj slunk off awkwardly to the bathroom.

"Listen. Sheldon's Meemaw is sick, and he needs a bit of time to think it through." Leonard leaned forward in concern.

"How sick?"

"Hospitalized sort of sick." Said Penny, fixing him with a glare as she folded her arms and went to sit beside Bernadette. She was looking at her feet, her expression sad, which certainly mirrored the expressions of everyone else's in the room.

"What kind of sick?" Howard tried- his voice was sympathetic and remorseful.

"She suffered a stroke, and she hasn't got any better." Penny's tone was grave. It wasn't hard to imagine the direction Meemaw's condition would take. The apartment descended into a tense silence that hung in the air like polluted fog.

"I'm gonna go and get Sheldon- please go easy on him. I have no idea what his boundaries are." Penny sighed and left the apartment. She hoped Meemaw would be ok- she didn't like seeing Sheldon upset, even if his portrayal of upset wasn't quite orthodox.


	7. Chapter 7

**So, again sorry for its lateness, I've had a lot to tend to recently, but here it is. This is the final chapter before things start to make serious progress, so if you can bear through one more chapter than things will get a bit more romantic/angsty! **

**Again, please review, it means so much to me.**

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**Chapter 7~ You're my best friend**

_Ooh you're the best friend that I ever had_  
_I've been with you such a long time_  
_You're my sunshine and I want you to know_  
_That my feelings are true_  
_I really love you_  
_Oh you're my best friend_

* * *

The days that followed were tense and quite sullen. On occasion someone from the group would try to lighten the mood with a joke, or a familiar anecdote, but nothing changed. It felt to Penny like everyone was going through the motions, waiting for the inevitable. She could even sense that Sheldon was starting to feel that way. He would speak when spoken to, but other than that remained silent and unobservant. On more than one occasion he was distracted, resulting in mishaps he would never usually make. For instance, he forgot to lock his apartment twice the day after he received the bad news; they had almost suffered another break in. Penny knew it was her job- her duty- to stick around for Sheldon; he clearly needed supervision. Penny enjoyed the lack of condescension that came from him, but she also missed it. All confusingly "romantic" thoughts had been banished from her head in light of recent events; she was solely focused on Sheldon and his grandmother's recovery. For several days, there was no progress. Sheldon's grandmother remained in critical care. The future looked bleak. Penny felt like she was stood at the edge of a precipice with Sheldon, leaning in. All it took was one call, and then both would go tumbling over into the darkness. Fortunately, that one call was yet to be made.

A few more days dragged by, and Penny's work was the only obstacle in her path. She considered taking her vacation time now to look after Sheldon, but what would that solve? Sheldon had the guys, and it would have to do for eight hours. It was on the following Wednesday. Halfway through her shift, Bernadette entered. Penny nodded uneasily to her; it was a simple fact that Bernadette was never late for her shift. On this occasion, she was half an hour late. She ran in, strands of hair covering her flushed face.

"Has my shift been given away yet?" She panicked, tying the apron around her and snatching a notebook and pen.

"No, you just escaped." Penny assured her, smoothing back her hair which was escaping its ponytail. Bernadette puffed a sigh of relief and set to work clearing a table. Everyone was eating and it was quiet, so Penny seized the opportunity to talk to her.

"So, why were you so late today?"

"Sheldon got a phone call." Bernadette says. Infuriatingly, she held no emotion in those words, and thus Penny couldn't deduce what the outcome of the phone call was. She breathed in a worried gasp, and closed her eyes, preparing herself. "What's the news?" Bernadette blinked a few times before responding simply, "She's been moved out of critical care. She's on the mend." Penny's heart beat so loud it reverberated in her throat, and she swallowed loudly as tears threatened to spill. She was so overcome with emotion that she couldn't suppress a small sob.

"Oh thank God! Bernie, you have no idea how scared I was-"

"Penny, I know. You should've seen him though; it was frightening. He smiled a massive smile, yelled out something about praising the Lord and hugged Amy." Penny's smile wavered. Amy? What was she doing in Sheldon's apartment? Why did he hug her? Why did he hug anyone?

"Amy? What was she doing there?"

"She came to see if Sheldon was okay. Also, she wanted to talk to her bestie, but you'd left early this morning." Penny furrowed her eyebrows confusedly. Her mouth formed a silent "o", but she didn't say anything. She proceeded to hang up her apron, pack away her notebook and pen and check out.

"Sorry Bernadette, but I have to go someplace. We're not exactly swamped, so if anyone asks, I've been called away to an emergency." She walked out of the door, and made her way to the apartment. She had time to think.

_Why would Amy want to see Sheldon again? She's gooey and all that but when a deal's done, it's done. She never looks back! Maybe Sheldon actually invited her, she must be a comfort to him…_

She instantly regretted walking back, as she had no distractions. Therefore her mind wouldn't stop churning over those horrid thoughts. Finally, she reached the block and threw open the door, not stopping to check her mail. _I'll come back for it later, _she decided as she jogged up the flights leading to Sheldon's apartment. She pulled out his apartment key from her pocket and opened the door. Normally, she would have knocked, but the adrenaline and overwhelming, impossible envy fuelled her on and in. Sheldon and Amy were alone in the room: she had forgotten that the rest of the group were at work. Trying to mask her discomfort and suspicion, she faked a smile and began.

"Amy! I'm so glad to see you! You didn't say you were coming!" Amy looked happy and then confused.

"Well, I knew you'd be at work." _Amy knew I'd be gone, she knew Sheldon would be here… alone._

"Oh, sorry. I decided to knock off work early. Hey Sheldon!" She cheerily waved at him. He sat in his spot, smiling for once. She was surprised that he was smiling without a particular incentive or urge.

"Hello." He said pleasantly.

"I heard the good news, isn't it great?!" She jumped and clapped, finding it easier and easier to act happy. Sheldon's eyes held no emotion at all, which caused Penny to falter. His smile never reached his eyes. They were hollow, and had nothing to say.

"Yes, I am pleased that Meemaw will be okay."

"Now you can focus on the wedding. Are you heading down there to visit her?" She asked, sitting in the single seat opposite Sheldon. Amy was sat beside him, staring intently. Penny's heart thumped painfully in her chest at her suspicion. _What is she up to?_

"No- why would I want to visit Meemaw? She needs time to recover, lord knows I'll be a hindrance if I turned up to see her. I'm her golden grandchild." He puffed his chest arrogantly and turned the TV on. I rolled my eyes out of habit. "Of course," she muttered. "The golden child." Sheldon looked her in the eyes directly, and furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "Well yes." Throughout their somewhat underwhelming conversation, Amy had been watching them both intently, her expression blank. Finally, she spoke up.

"Sorry to interrupt, but Sheldon, what wedding are you talking about?" That took Penny by surprise; she assumed that Amy had at least heard it from Bernadette or something.

"You don't know? Sheldon's sister is getting married on the 28th." Penny explained.

"That's in a week and a half! Sheldon, why didn't you tell me sooner? I'll have to rush out and get a dress…"

"There's no need, Amy. Penny will be accompanying me." She froze, her eyebrows furrowing in something Penny recognised as sad, and even hurt.

"Oh." She looked crestfallen, "I understand. We're not bound by the relationship agreement anymore."

"Either you're sad, or nauseated. Sad?" He guessed. Amy didn't respond, but turned to Penny.

"Penny, we haven't engaged in girl time in several weeks. Care to accompany me to the mall?" Penny was surprised at Amy's forwardness; she usually waited for the other to engage with her. She couldn't say no to Amy: they had been friends for so long, she would be crushed. She checked her watch before faking a smile. _I'm so tired. No._

"Yeah sure! Let me just get changed." She left the apartment without glancing once back at Sheldon, whilst Amy trailed behind. She ran to her bedroom and changed clothes, grabbed her handbag and locked up.

"So, how've you been? I haven't heard from you in a while."

"I've been busy. I was called back to study further a professor's thesis on the effects tumours have on Donkeys. It was riveting, but entirely inaccurate." She explained, smiling happily. Penny's heart beat faster to see Amy in such good spirits.

"Aaw, well I'm glad you're coping well. I know how close you and Sheldon were, considering… y'know."

Amy cocked her head confusedly. "What?"

"Well, y'know… considering Sheldon isn't the cuddly fluffy type." Penny shrugged. Amy mouthed an "o" to show her understanding.

"No, he wasn't. Not by any means. My mother says it was for the best. He was my beta-test, and now it's time to hook up with the one." She said wistfully. Penny snorted at Amy's wishful thoughts. _I remember I used to be like that, _she thought. _I used to be so naïve. _

"Oh Amy, I'm not sure if love works like that…" Penny trailed off.

"Of course it is." Amy ended the conversation at that. Penny raised her eyebrows but didn't object. Sometimes it was easier to let Amy think she was right than explain to her that she wasn't.

Penny and Amy had been in the same clothes store for close to an hour. And for the first time in Penny's entire life, she was more enthusiastic about work than she was shopping. She ambled amongst the sale items, feigning interest as a façade for Amy's sake. She guided Amy to the best choices for her face, etcetera, etcetera… _What the hell is going on at the moment?_

"Penny, I'm not unaware of your disinterest in shopping. Given that shopping is the centre of your life aside from relationships and work, you must be dying, or very sad. I'm assuming you're very sad." She said from behind a rail of jeans.

"I'm not sad- I'm just a bit tired. Can we wrap up soon?" Penny lied.

"Sure, anything for my bestie." They paid for their items and leisurely made their way to the parking lot. They didn't utter any more words until Amy had clambered into Penny's ever-ageing car. The suspension creaked and groaned as the door slammed shut, and something underneath Amy's seat rattled.

"Yeah it always does that, don't worry." Penny waved off Amy's concerned look. Amy didn't answer, but stared at her feet.

"What's up?" Penny finally asked.

"I've been offered a placement for a Neurology department in a major university in Alaska. It's the career I've always wanted." She murmured.

"Amy! Congratulations!" Penny cried, rubbing Amy's shoulder before starting the ignition. Amy didn't speak, and her eyes never left their fixed spot on the dirty woollen floor.

"What's wrong? I thought you'd be really happy!" She said as she reversed out of their spot and onto the main road.

"I am, it's just… won't you miss me?" She peeked up at Penny through her glasses, her expression sad.

"Of course I'll miss you, but this kind of opportunity shouldn't go to waste! I mean, we could always catch up when you have time off, at holidays. Even weekends!" Penny argued, feeling slightly sad too.

"It's a seven-day-a-week job. I won't be able to see you until the national holidays, Easter, Christmas, Summer and Halloween." Penny bit back the mild sorrow that welled in her heart. As many flaws as Amy had, she was still her friend, and she would miss her.

"Aw! Well, I don't think you should pass this up. I'll visit you whenever you're free. You can always call me, I'll always pick up." Amy smiled then, safe in the knowledge she wouldn't be forgotten.

"You won't forget me?" Penny smiled softly, her eyes never leaving the road.

"Who could forget the brilliant Amy Farrah Fowler?" The rest of the ride home was spent in comfortable silence. _Well, at least I know she isn't planning on getting back with Sheldon, _she thought. Did she really just think that? Amy was her friend, and Penny should've been thinking about Amy's departure, not about whether or not her and Sheldon would get back together!

"How are things with you and Leonard currently?" Amy asked. Penny was taken aback by the sporadic nature of the question, but she supposed it wasn't overly unexpected. Amy wasn't the first to ask that question, and Penny doubted she'd be the last.

"Well, we're getting along okay, but there's nothing left anymore." Penny murmured. They pulled up and left the car, it creaking as their weights evacuated the seats.

"I'm sure you'll find someone. You're a beautiful, busty blonde; anyone would be lucky to have you." Amy swooned. Penny grimaced briefly, before treating it with indifference. She was used to Amy's constant swooning over her, and was overcome for a quick period of time with emotion at the thought of not having Amy be there to swoon.

"Thanks Amy. I'll really miss you, y'know." She added quietly, her turn to look at the floor sullenly. Amy suddenly and unexpectedly pulled Penny into a crushingly right hug, leaning her head into the crook between Penny's neck and her shoulder. Penny splayed her hands out in confusion before gripping Amy back, resting her cheek on Amy's head. Amy was still quite shy with her movements, so pulling Penny into an unexpected hug was unusual. The hug lasted no more than a few seconds, and where interrupted by a confused Sheldon in the lobby, grasping his day's mail.

"Amy, Penny." He nodded in acknowledgement. His gawky figure turned to walk up the stairs, Penny's eyes trained on him without being aware of it.

"Penny, have you got appropriate attire for the wedding? It's this weekend." Penny rolled her eyes as Sheldon asked her once again if she was prepared. Amy had since telling Penny told Sheldon, and was finishing off her work at the University, leaving Penny alone with the guys again.

"Sheldon, it's Thursday. We don't leave until tomorrow evening. Will you stop badgering?"

"Yes, but tomorrow we have to do further checks, go over procedures commencing for the weekend and we also have to arrive at the airport early enough to condone flight safety and have toilet checks." Sheldon explained, taking no breaths. Penny huffed and shifted in her seat, uncomfortably warm by how intent Sheldon looked at her. Now Sheldon was happier, Penny could be happier too. This also meant she was reverting back to her old state of confusion in regards of her feelings towards him. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach when she thought about spending two whole days in him and his family's company. What if they had to share a room? _I wonder what could happen… _before she could think more about what could happen, she began to blush.

"Penny, are you ill? You are very red in the face and seem to be finding it hard to stay still for a period of time exceeding a minute." Sheldon observed, his best emotionless-robot voice in use.

"I'm fine." _Lies, lies, lies… _Sheldon peered at her for a moment or two longer, eyebrows furrowed, before he returned to eating his meal. Little did Penny know that something was blossoming in Sheldon's mind, something small and niggling that would bloom over the coming days.

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**So, if you have any song ideas or anything at all drop me a comment!**

**See you soon (hopefully)!**


	8. Chapter 8

**OMG IT HAS BEEN SO LONG! I AM SO SORRY! Blame the German laptop company. They erased my entire harddrive, meaning I lost all my fanfics! :O I had to start this all over again. I've reconsidered my story plan, and I am now ready to continue writing. Expect an update at least every fortnight! This time, that should be a promise. So sorry!**

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**Chapter 8~ Life is beautiful**

_****Life is beautiful, but it's complicated._  
_We barely make it._  
_We don't need to understand,_  
_There are miracles, miracles._

_Yeah, life is beautiful._  
_Our hearts, they beat and break._

* * *

"Sheldon, the guy in front does not have the flu. Will you please put that stuff away?" Penny begged, wrinkling her nose at the gel Sheldon was lathering over his hands.

"Penny, this gel is preventing you from falling ill with the influenza. The odour is far more welcoming than that of a man who doesn't brush his teeth as often as he should, sneezing all the time." Penny wrinkled her nose even further and turned her head away. The strong, fake smell of the citrus antibacterial gel made her nose sting.

"Sheldon, you're completely overreacting." Penny hissed. Sheldon rolled his eyes, and pretended to imitate her without speaking. Sheldon had acted childish from the moment they entered the airport, with his constant behaviour becoming increasingly embarrassing. Sheldon was silent for a moment, but Penny knew better. Sheldon wasn't finished.

"Penny," he began, "Why did you agree to accompany me to the wedding?" Penny sure as hell wasn't expecting that. Stumped, she open and closed her mouth repeatedly, trying to form a coherent response. Sheldon raised an eyebrow quizzically at her continuing silence.

"Well, I wanted to meet your family, and I always steal your wifi so I figured this could be payback or something." She shrugged her shoulders. Sheldon stared at the seat in front of him absentmindedly, pondering over something. The truth was that Penny had no idea why. Sheldon was a pain in the ass to her, who was always rude and ignorant. Yet for some reason, he'd seemed softer and more manageable to her over the last few weeks. This led her to want to come with him, in this chapter of his seemingly routine life.

"Why'd you ask?" She said, trying to feign disinterest by staring at her nails, biting her lip subconsciously.

"Because I am aware that I agitate you, and that you struggle to stay around me for any period of time when it's just you and I. I was wondering why you would want to spend a week with me, where you'll have to sleep in the same bedroom as me for the duration of the said week." He explained, foraging around in his pocket for something. Penny's heart stopped beating. "What? We're sharing a bedroom for a week?!" She exclaimed, her head snapping up to look Sheldon in the eye.

"I assumed you'd realise this. Our house isn't massive Penny; there are only a select number of bedrooms." He continued to forage, seemingly unaware of the magnitude of the situation. The two sides to Penny's mind on Sheldon battled in her mind. On the one hand, he'd be fussy and without a doubt she'd likely be shoved on the floor or into a hallway or sofa, and he'd be intolerable for 99% of the time, but on the other hand, the 1% of the time when he was decent and tolerable was almost worth it. Regardless, it was too late to change her mind. She had to suck it up, and deal with it. It was one week, and then she could go back to spacing herself from the object of her mind. Go back to spacing herself from the guy she couldn't stop thinking about. It just so happened that in that moment she made the revelation that had been lingering in her mind, ever present but never revealing itself.

It just so happened that on that day Sheldon had decided to wear his brand new Superman shirt. This shirt was blue (Penny's favourite colour) and a few sizes too large. The whole block had heard of the news in under an hour. Sheldon almost burst into tears when he learnt the shirt was too big. After a phone call to his mother, Sheldon put a brave face on and decided to wear it, regardless of its looseness. As they sat there on the plane, Sheldon craned his neck to look out the window. As he did so, Penny got a flash of his chiselled collarbone, protruding from his neck. That was the first time Penny noticed a hint of muscle, a hint of pure strength in his neck. As a few veins showed through his skin, Penny found herself suddenly becoming very hot and flustered. She was reminded of her time as a young teenager, when she discovered her… extreme adoration for collarbones and cheekbones. Penny began to shift uncomfortably in her seat, extremely aware of her attraction. The light shone on Sheldon just right, accentuating his features; his sharp, defined nose, his glowing eyes, his emotionless lips, and the lighter flecks in his hair. In that single defining moment, Penny realised why she couldn't stop thinking about him. Because she liked him. Penny_ liked_ Sheldon. She found herself completely incapable of turning away from him, and so she allowed herself to stare. Her cheeks were burning like the fire that blazed mercilessly in her heart. Sheldon blinked slowly and turned to look at her. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Are you ill, Penny?" He asked abruptly.

"No," she answered, confused. "Why?"

"Your cheeks are flushed, your pupils are dilated, and your breathing is elevated. There are only several causes for this sort of behaviour." Penny looked down. She wasn't stupid; she knew what these were symptoms of. Attraction.

"It's just hot on this plane, Sheldon." She muttered. The excuse was useless, as Sheldon's sense of awareness was accurate.

"Theoretically, it shouldn't be. Would you like me to complain to the hostess?" He asked. Penny smiled faintly. _A rare kind gesture_, she thought. _Soak it up._

She shook her head. "I'm fine, really. Just drop it sweetie." It felt foreign to call him sweetie now that she knew that she liked him. She clearly had a lot of thinking to do, and one plane journey of several hours wasn't enough. Had she always liked him? Was this a recent attraction? She had no clue. She tried to look back and analyse her behaviour around him. There were so many moments she'd never thought twice about up until then. She was the only one who tried to comfort him when he was upset about the gang falsifying the results at the arctic and embarrassing him at the university. She happily endured shopping with the fussiest man alive in order to see him in a very dashing suit that even then she remembered feeling elated at seeing him in. When she kicked the nerd in the balls for stealing Sheldon's World of Warcraft credentials. She revelled in her and Sheldon's moments together, the moments when they were closer than they usually were. She closed her eyes and allowed the memories to enter her mind individually, her senses alive with alertness and precision. Suddenly, her being jostled around rather unexpectedly brought her to. She opened her eyes, groggy from sleep. She wasn't aware she had been asleep, and wearily she dug out her phone and checked the time. She'd been asleep for an entire hour and a half. She turned slowly to look at Sheldon and was instead greeted with a small Japanese old man, smiling at her. He tipped his head and started speaking to her in Japanese. Had Penny been more alert, she would've screamed or hit the guy, but as she was still on a delay from sleep she simply looked away and stared out of the window. She could swear that waking up from a midday nap was more confusing than waking up with a hangover. Finally, she yelled at the Japanese man.

"Who the heck are you? Sheldon? Sheldon!" She stood up and span around frantically in disbelief. The Japanese man in response stood up and started spinning around too, imitating her.

Sheldon waved meekly, sat beside a Japanese woman on the other end of the plane, in the opposite aisle. Penny jutted her teeth out, glaring, before storming her way over to him.

"What the _hell _are you doing Sheldon?" She demanded, crossing her arms furiously. Sheldon fumbled around for a response.

"Don't you dare make something up or I swear to God…" Sheldon stood up suddenly, his hands out in a gesture for her to quieten.

"You fell asleep, and you were leaning towards me. I was unsure of what society dictates is the correct way to handle that social interaction based on our current status of relationship, so I traded seats with that kind Japanese man," he said, pointing back to where the Japanese man sat, waving at them. He was still grinning like a child in a candy shop.

"How long have we got left?" Penny asked, closing her eyes and pressing two fingers to her forehead.

"Approximately forty minutes. May I ask why you asked?" He tilted his head, resembling the actions of a puppy trying to understand something.

"Because I want to know if I have enough time to kill you and get away with it." She hissed sarcastically, before sighing. "I'm not going to fall asleep again Sheldon. Come back to our seats, please?" He deliberated, before nodding once and sidling out into the aisle. She jerked her head at the Japanese man to move out of Sheldon's seat, to which the man seemed to understand and happily obliged. Penny was beginning to find the man's constant grinning unnerving. When Sheldon had finally sat down, Penny threw herself down into the seat with more force than necessary, which earned her a glare from Sheldon.

"Laws of physics state that you can achieve your desired result- in your case, sitting down- without the need for the amount of force you applied to the situation." Sheldon said snottily.

"Don't dress up all of your words with your stupid fancy physics." Penny retorted, crossing her arms grumpily. Their behaviour towards one another was becoming more and more hostile by the second, and Penny knew that she had to back down or else she'd be spending a very angry week in Sheldon's intolerable company. She was hoping to enjoy herself; the last thing she wanted was to argue with one of her friends over something so needlessly trivial. Sheldon opened her mouth to speak, but Penny hastily interceded.

"Sheldon, let's just drop this. I don't want to be all tense; this is an exciting day for me!" She opted for a cheerier tone of voice. Sheldon furrowed his eyebrows in

confusion and asked, "Why is this an exciting day for you?"

Penny licked her lips, formulating a response.

"I am excited to see your family, Sheldon! I feel like I'm seeing a secret Sheldon, and that's a big deal to me." Penny explained earnestly, lightly placing a hand on his arm. When she realised that she had actually _touched_ Sheldon without his express permission, she recoiled like she had touched something disgusting, or forbidden. Strangely, he was so deep in thought that he never even noticed the one-sided exchange, and this both thrilled and concerned Penny. Sheldon usually had to be very deep in thought to miss such an important thing.

"Sheldon? Are you okay?" She asked. He snapped to, suddenly animating as if he was a robot and Penny had flicked on the switch.

"Of course! Why ever wouldn't I be?" He said, his voice slightly too perky; almost as if it was put on for Penny's sake. She decided not to delve into it and simply dismiss it. She found that when it came to Sheldon and his emotions, it was far better to just avoid discussing them until he'd dealt with the situation. He couldn't process his own emotions without difficulty, let alone allow others to help. She looked into the hands that fiddled with each other relentlessly on her lap. She _loved _Sheldon. This whole time, she'd dated his best friend continuously, and had slept with another of his close friends whilst drunk. This whole time the man she really loved was always on the fringes of her life, only affecting her partially. When secretly the whole time he'd been so much closer to her heart than she had ever realised. Then she was stunned by another dawning realisation- these feelings would never be mutual. Sheldon would never love her- stupid, meaningless Penny. Penny was nothing in comparison to the wonderful Amy. Penny had no shiny qualifications- no special jobs or occupations. She was a simple waitress, in her own opinion. Trying not to show how sad she was, she beamed at her phone's screen, which was turned off. At least her acting classes weren't a complete waste of time. Unfortunately, Sheldon was observant again.

"Why are you smiling at your phone, when it is turned off?" He asked. Penny winced.

"I just… remembered something funny."

The rest of the plane journey was spent in silence. They didn't utter a word until they exited the plane.

"So Sheldon, what's the plan here then?" Penny asked, attempting to lighten her own spirits.

"My brother should be waiting for me," he explained, looking up at the digital wall clock that hung in the lobby of the airport. "You can't miss him. No doubt he'll attempt to embarrass me, especially now he knows I'm bringing a lady to accompany me." Penny's eyebrows widened. His brother sounded fun. She wondered what he looked like. She crossed her fingers that he didn't look like Sheldon- one was bad enough for her.

"I suspect you may be wondering what he looks like- I shan't spend hours with intricacies, but you should note he looks very dissimilar to me. He is so dissimilar most people find it humorous. Obviously a lower species humour that I fail to appreciate due to my superiority." Sheldon sniffed indignantly. They collected their luggage and made their way over to the area where Sheldon's brother was waiting. It wasn't difficult to spot him in the end. He stood out from the crowd, for several reasons. Namely, he wore a t-shirt that had quite obviously been ripped at the sleeves to create a rugged vest. This lack of sleeve gave way to show his impressively bulky muscles. He was well tanned, and his hair (the same dark colour as Sheldon's) was spiked up with a large amount of gel. Under normal circumstances, Penny would have been attracted to a man who looked like him. But in this case, all she could think of was Sheldon. She was a mess. Forcing a smile, she reached out to shake his hand. He gripped it with far more vigour than necessary, before releasing her hand and snatching Sheldon into his huge embrace.

"Shelly bean! How's it hangin'?" He shouted. His Texas accent was far stronger than Sheldon's. Sheldon waited impatiently for him to be released, before brushing himself off and coldly replying, "I am fine, George. Have you finished exchanging pleasantries?" George didn't respond at all, instead turning back to Penny.

"You must be Penny! Sheldon's told me quite a few things about you." His tone was sultry. Penny bit back a sharp retort- she could be imagining it.

"I hope they're all nice things!" She exclaimed, glaring at Sheldon. He ignored the look, focusing on George alone.

"That's for me to know, and for you to not know." Sheldon crossed his arms childishly. George rolled his eyes knowingly, before winking at Penny. Penny was becoming more and more annoyed at this. What was this guy's problem? Couldn't she get a break from flirting guys for even a minute? With a heavy sigh, she pulled another fake smile.

"I'm so excited to see your family. I love weddings."

"So does Missy- that's why she's so early on! They've only been together for a year. I think it's cute though." George said again. He was leaning extremely close to Penny now. Penny casually shifted to the side slightly. If George noticed, he made no move about it.

"So, how about we go meet the rest of this crazy family then, huh?" With that, he led the way to his jeep. It was impressively sized, with skulls painted on both sides.

"Awesome jeep." Penny nodded in genuine approval. George opened the passenger side door for her. She nodded in gratitude and sat down, clicking in. He shoved their luggage in the trunk, secured Sheldon and then sat in the driver's seat himself.

"Thanks! I love this baby. She's beautiful." He stroked the wheel, before turning the key in the ignition.

"My boyfriend got it for me for my birthday. Best present ever! Until that night, I mean!" He raised his voice, before heartily laughing at his own innuendo. Penny's jaw dropped. Sheldon's brother was… gay? _He wasn't flirting with me! _

"That's sweet! What's your boyfriend's name?"

"Aaron. He's from England. He's a total sweetheart." He beamed to himself as he pulled out of the lot and began on the highway. Penny couldn't help but smile. He was clearly loved up. She was relieved he was gay- she wanted to focus on Sheldon without having some guy try to get off with her at every available opportunity. Taking a steadying breath, she looked out of the window at the Texas view. Sharing a room with Sheldon would be difficult, but it would be the little moments, the little things that would build up. These would be the memories she'd cherish forever, whatever happened.

* * *

**Hope this was ok! I was desperate to get to this one, and I wanted to draw out the George Jr plot twist but then I thought YOLO (kill me now), I thought it was funny that he was gay XD I didn't want Penny to be too ignorant though! Please drop me a review, I'm about to start writing chapter 9! Again, so sorry to keep you waiting. I'm such a bad writer... .**


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